Strange but, I guess, making sense from a “At least it ties in more with Brightest Day” point of view, Rich Johnston points out that Zatanna’s place in the preview art for Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing seems to have been taken by Hawkman in the version that saw print in various DC titles today:

(Also changed: Superman’s eyes are now glowing, and Batman’s chest emblem has been fixed. Sadly, no-one has told Constantine that that’s not how you light cigarettes, yet.)

This potentially answers the question of where Hawkman’s story will continue following Brightest Day #24′s downbeat ending – Poor Sheira – unless it’s just a cameo capitalizing on his appearances in the series, but I hope that it doesn’t mean that Zatanna has been written out of the series; she’s one of the more established DCU characters to have a shared history with Constantine, and it would’ve been nice to see what (if anything) their current status was these days. That said, maybe Constantine can magic Hawkman’s wife back to corporeal form at some point during the new series…?

For those concerned about the future of DC’s THUNDER Agents, especially now that Nick Spencer is Marvel exclusive? Well, he has some words for you at CBR:

I’m not done… Stay tuned, and the best thing that you can do if you want to ensure that this story continues and sees its proper finish is to pick up the book. DC has made a nice move in putting up the first six issues digitally via comiXology and the DC App. The first issue is free, so you can grab those and then head into the shop for #7. It’s an easy way to jump on for like $10. And be vocal, and spread the word about the book. Everybody would like to see this story continue and see it finished in the way we’ve been planning from the beginning. There is an end we’ve been planning from the start, and we’d like to give it to you. Don’t give up hope!

All of which raises the question… Does Spencer have a THUNDER Agents exception in his exclusive, at least until a set number of issues? Or has he already written way in advance?

Clearly, the reason that Warner Bros. selected Green Lantern as their first DC Entertainment movie was because of the oath. By the time this movie comes out, everyone who’s seen the trailer will know the words “In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night,” it seems, and now Warners is offering fans the chance to perform them for the internet with the spectacular Green Lantern: Infinite Oath website. Yes, you too can upload video of yourself pledging that evil shall not, in fact, escape your sight, and warning those that worship evil’s might to beware your power.

Now that the words are becoming so famous, maybe we’ll find out who is responsible for them. I’ve always thought that they were invented Alfred Bester, but according to Wikipedia, Bester claims that the oath was in place before he wrote the strip. So who came up with the oath as we know it today? Anyone have any ideas?

Welcome back, gang. Last week, the TV series Smallville came to a close after ten successful seasons. For the first several seasons, this was a TV show that insisted on avoiding all tights and capes. But eventually, that rule fell away as more and more superheroes showed up. Even Clark began wearing outfits that were meant to act as prototypes of the famous costume we knew he was fated to wear, a costume we knew would finally arrive in the finale.

Last week, we checked out the Smallville interpretation of several heroes who aided Clark over the course of the show. Now let’s see who else was there. And let’s take a look at the Kryptonian hero himself.

DR. FATE

In the DCU, there have been a few people to use the name Dr. Fate. The most famous was a hero who operated during the Golden Age of comics. Kent Nelson was a boy trained in the ways of magic by the mystical Lord of Order named Nabu. When Kent wore the helm of Nabu, he became a host for the mystical sorcerer and this combined being was called Dr. Fate.

In Smallville, Kent Nelson is played by Brent Strait and is a man driven out of his mind by having to wear the helm of Nabu over and over again. Apparently, he was able to see everyone’s fate but his own and this knowledge destroyed much of his grip on reality. But when he resumes his role as Dr. Fate, Nabu’s power is able to help balance his mind and restore his sense of purpose.

Technically, this isn’t a bad translation. It’s certainly accurate in getting all the basic elements there. Helmet, cape, amulet, all there. Definitely a good idea to do the belt rather than shorts over trousers. But there are a couple of details not working for me. The double-F on the belt (for “Fate”) is a bit sill for me, I’d do away with that. The muscle outlines don’t really work for me. Dr. Fate is a sorcerer, not a character who focuses on physical strength, and this comes off too much as decoration for its own sake.

And like all fashion, material is key. The outfit Dr. Fate is wearing comes off as a Halloween costume, even in the world of Smallville. Maybe if they had him in a loose blue silk tunic? I don’t know. I do know for sure, though, that I would’ve preferred a metal helmet that seemed like it might have been made centuries ago rather than a plastic one.

This costume should be given a lot of credit for trying to be as accurate as it could and it actually looks quite nice in the right lighting or with the right computer-generated filter. But just misses the mark of being cool.

And what’s with the cod piece? (more…)

Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four v. 3-6
Written by Stan Lee
Co-Plotted & Penciled by Jack Kirby

Inked by George Roussos, Chic Stone, Frank Giacoia, Vince Colletta & Joe Sinnott
Lettered by Art Simek & Sam Rosen
Color Reconstruction by Michael Kelleher & Kellustration, and Wil Glass & All Thumbs Creative
Published by Marvel Comics

I’ll be forever grateful to Marvel for putting their Marvel Masterworks series in softcover. I’ve read a few Essentials – their 500-page black & white on newsprint paper omnibuses – but I’d prefer to see these classic stories in color on a slightly better paper. The hardcover Masterworks, I told myself often, “I’ll get around to them.” But I kept not getting around.

And to give you an idea how far behind my reading pile has gotten, I sat down last week and read four consecutive volumes of classic Stan Lee-Jack Kirby Fantastic Four comics. And they’re a blast.

I can’t truthfully say that they age well. It’s not only the dated pop culture and world event references, but it’s hard to imagine a heroine today being so disrespected as Sue Storm is repeatedly throughout these stories – and most often by her two romantic suitors!

Despite these awkward, and often hilarious moments, the stories are still totally entertaining. Sure, there are a few odd plot quirks, but they’re fun, and crazy adventurous. Lee and Kirby infuse the characters with playful personalities, a little pathos, a little banter, and plenty of personality (Ben and Reed in particular). By book four, multi-issue storylines have begun, creating a broader, more intricate tapestry. In book five, Joe Sinnott becomes Kirby’s inker, creating the Fantastic Four imagery that readers remember best. Book six takes all the groundwork laid in previous books and builds one of the most cohesive and multi-threaded plots in superhero comics history.

Most of the foundation of the Marvel Universe is established in these pages. And many readers will want to see that history. But to me, I just love seeing these exciting stories for myself. The burgeoning cosmology of the series, Lee and Kirby’s playful undercutting of their own narrative conventions, the beautiful artwork (my only complaint: the garish color on the covers makes them look hideous!), the snappy dialogue, the purely fun stories. The books are a delight, and highly recommended.

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Doug Moench and Russ Heath, Doug Moench and Roger Ebert: Bhob shares an old Moench/Heath strip, and the story behind it. (Via tcj.com)

Life imitates political cartoon: Michael Cavna shares a 2003 cartoon about an Arnold Schwarzenegger love child by Cam Cadrow, which now looks prescient.

Bad movie, good beer?: Bryan Munn didn’t care for the Thor film, but he drank a rather appropriate-sounding beer before taking it in. (I’m pretty positive those 3D action sequences would have made me ill if I had any beer in my stomach, although I did like the movie for the most part).

“One psychologist even changed the comic book world and influenced…the feminist movement”: Psychcentral.com profiles William Moulton Marston.

The logic of most of these reasons is completely unassailable: “Why Aquaman is the best damn superhero in comic history”

Flashpoint vs. Fear Itself: Yan Basque counts up August’s number of tie-ins for each series/event/thing. Which one wins or loses depends on whether you think a huge number of tie-ins for a big, huge series is a good thing or a bad thing.

Hey, Al Milgrom’s first name is Allen?: The veteran artist gets profiled on the occasion of the Thor movie making Marvel superheroes the main topic of pop-culture conversation for another few weeks.

Science rules! Or at least, that’s what I took away from five seasons of Bill Nye the Science Guy. Once a week I sift through the millions of Etsy listings to find the best in geek chic for Blog@ readers. Last week I showed you some unique hand carved wooden superheroes, this week my inner science geek is showing itself. Take a gander at these scientific items I found on Etsy…

Ok, so technically this first one is more math related than science but it was too awesome to pass up. This Pi Cuff Bracelet has the first 480 numbers in Pi etched in brass. User KarlaWheelerDesign created the look for $50. She’s also got one with binary code for $60.

Need something to snazz up that boring ol’ lab coat? How about some Lab Coat Bling? User ShopGibberish created this pin out of three scrabble tiles with the periodic table used to spell out the word “geek.” The user is willing to create whatever phrase you’d like out of the elements. $18.

When you need to dress up, why not say it with science? You’ll look impressive sporting one of these DNA Helix ties for sure. Your choice from user projector, $25. The shop also has a few other science-minded ties you can check out here.

The first law of thermodynamics is you don’t talk about thermodynamics. Wait. Strike that. How about a First Law of Thermodynamics Formula Handstamped Necklace made from sterling silver to show your devotion to the law? “The first law of thermodynamics states that although energy can be transformed, it cannot be created or destroyed,” writes user nikhajewelry, “A sterling silver tag has been handstamped with the simplest form of [the] formula.” Yours for $16. If you’re a geologist, I suggest taking a look at the “Gneiss Schist” necklace as well.

And last but not least, something that caught my eye on Etsy a while ago and was waiting for a chance to show you all. Now’s as good a time as any I guess. It’s a Phrenology Helmet. For $250, user bellehemets will give you this item. “This bicycle or skateboard helmet is one-of-a-kind and hand-painted by DJ Baskin,” writes the user, “The design is based on an old diagram of the late Nineteenth Century pseudoscience.” Also available? The Brain Helmet for $120.

As always, bear in mind, since Etsy is a craft website and not a commercial, mass-market dealer, items are almost always one-of-a-kind or in very limited availability. When you see something you like, buy it. It may not be there the next time you surf round. (Yes, it’s a very dangerous site for your wallet.) Also, since most items are created individually, many sellers are willing to customize something specifically to suit your needs. Just ask!

Each week, I check Diamond’s “product changes” list, and most of the time, it’s nothing too noteworthy. “This hardcover will be 240 pages instead of 236 pages.” But occasionally there’s something on there that’s a real bummer. Case in point, today’s news that June’s Fear Itself: Deadpool #1 would have a new cover.

The original cover, by Ryan Stegman, looked like this:

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Once again, it’s all words and no pictures! Here’s what jumped out at me from Diamond’s shipping list as looking either really good, really bad or somehow worth mentioning. Feel free to tell us in the comments section what looks really good, really bad or somehow worth mentioning to you. And/or to call me mean names.

The Adventures of Dr. McNinja Vol. 1: Night Powers: Chris Hastings and Les McClaine’s web-comic about a doctor who is also a ninja gets a paper collection thanks to Dark Horse Comics. The hard copy is a $20, 230-page trade, featuring an original story by Benito Cereno and McClaine.  You can read a short preview here and a giant one here.

Batman: Gates of Gotham #1: Given the number of Batman monthlies being published at the moment, a new Batman miniseries hardly seems like something noteworthy, but this one’s from the acclaimed Detective Comics writer Scott Snyder, and has the advantage of a different scope (guest-starring a mess of DCU detectives) and focus, on the history of Gotham City and its founding families. Snyder is co-writing with Kyle Higgins, while Trevor McCarthy is handling the art. It’s a five-issue series.

Booster Gold #44: This week’s only Flashpoint tie-in features DC’s only time-traveling superhero with his own title. Writer/artist Dan Jurgens and artist Norm Rapmund return to the book after a fun, funny run by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Chris Batista. Marvel’s big summer crossover, Fear Itself, is a little further underway, which likely explains all the tie-ins available this week: Herc #3, Avengers #13 and Invincible Iron Man #504 (The first is a $3 book, the other two are $4 ones).

DC Comics: Batman—Dark Knight, Dark City: This $8, 90-page kinda-trade collects the 1990 three-issue Batman story arc by writer Peter Milligan and artist Kieron Dwyer (with covers by Mike Mignola), in which The Riddler returns from retirment to dabble in late-‘80s darkness and Satanism. To fill up the page count, there’s a neat little one-issue story from Milligan’s too-short 1991 run on TEC, featuring pencil art by Tom Mandrake. I’d highly recommend this if you’ve any interest in Batman and missed these the first time around.

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You can blame this one entirely on Twitter in general, and Justin Aclin and Ben Morse in particular, but after various tweeted conversations this morning, I feel like I have to come clean and admit something to the comics internet as a whole: I am a Wally West fan.

I feel much better having admitted it to you all. Be warned: There’s a “Why did we bring Barry back, again?” rant ahead, in light of the end of Flash #12 from last week. (more…)

Hey, remember the The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn posters from earlier today? Now we’ve got a teaser trailer to go with it:

Movie is out December 23, 2011.

I swear, the people behind Marvel’s Ultimate Comics relaunch are just messing with me now. It’s not enough that Brian Michael Bendis’ press call about the second Ultimate Comics Spider-Man relaunch sounded just like his first two years earlier, now we have this from the press release about the covers for the new books, from editor Mark Paniccia:

With Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn, all of the titles will be tighter than ever, so when it came time to think up ideas and concepts for the covers – we wanted a sense of unity to tie the books together.

And the result of that thinking?

Two vertical bars on either side of the page, framing an action shot of the title character leaping out at the reader? Where have we seen that before…?

Oh, that‘s right.

Seriously, the Ultimate Comics relaunch is underscoring how new and exciting the line is becoming by… returning to the old cover layout? Seriously? I thought it was bad enough that the line was returning to the same core line-up of titles, but this is seeming more and more like an exercise in short-term nostalgia the more we learn about it.

Still, at least the Kaare Andrews art is nice. Here’re the other covers, in case you’re curious: (more…)

I’m not the only person who’s been noticing that this month’s DC solicitations are full of conclusions and priming things for a large number of post-Flashpoint relaunches and new status quos, am I? I’m not just talking about the final issues of all things Flashpoint-related; Green Lantern continues its absence in the aftermath of the “War of The Green Lanterns” storyline, while the War of The Green Lantern Aftermath #2 solicit promises the identity of “the new Green Lantern of Sector 2814.” Justice League of America #60 has the team deciding “whether they have anything left to offer the DC Universe.”  The final issue of Batman: Gates of Gotham “sets the stage for a bold new direction in the Bat books,” while Secret Six #36 (6 x 6!) promises that “No one escapes unscathed in this one – and the Six won’t ever be the same!” Meanwhile, storylines reach their climax in Superman, Action Comics, Detective Comics, Wonder Woman and Superboy, and the final issue of Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing promises to reveal Swamp Thing’s “dark motives” (Or maybe that should be “Dark motives”?).

It’s almost like they’re clearing the decks for something, isn’t it? Hmm. Well, the solicits for September will be the first post-Flashpoint, post-Brightest Day solicitations, won’t they? I’m guessing relaunches for Flash and Green Lantern at the very least, along with new series for Aquaman and maybe Swamp Thing… and maybe the kind of linewide renewal that we haven’t seen at DC since the days of One Year Later. But what do you think?

Though beloved Belgian comic book series The Adventures of Tintin may still be virtually unknown to US audiences despite being beloved around the world — I think it’s required by law for me to put some version of that sentence here — there’s a good chance the upcoming film, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, will attract plenty of domestic interest through its creative team alone. Both Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright and current Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat are co-writers on the script, the film was produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Steven Spielberg — basically the geek equivalent of the 1992 US men’s Olympic basketball team.

The film isn’t scheduled for release until December 23, 2011, and the first item to whet appetites are these two posters, released Monday and seen on The Hollywood Reporter and elsewhere; one for North America, the other for the international market. Both are after the jump.

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Yotsuba&! v. 8-9
Written & Illustrated by Kiyohiko Azuma
Translated by Amy Forsyth
Lettered by Terri Delgado
Published by Yen Press

When I get a new comic, it gets slotted onto the bottom of my towering to-read pile. The exception to that rule is Usagi Yojimbo, which I always read immediately when a new book emerges. If I were to make two exceptions, Yotsuba&! might be the second such title.

Each chapter is titled “Yotsuba & something“, and that chapter follows our youthful protagonist as she, wide-eyed and full of wonder, explores the world around her. With absolutely hilarious results. In these two books, Yotsuba attends a school festival where her friend and neighbor’s class is distributing cake. She flies in a hot air balloon. Opposites, teddy bears, restaurants, typhoons and schedules also find their way into Yotsbuba’s inquisitive, excitable gaze.

Kiyohiko Azuma is a master at blending slapstick timing with innocent, childish enthusiasm. Yotsuba’s continual amazement and delight make her appear too young for her age, but Azuma’s ability to play the rest of the cast off her reactions only makes every situation that much funnier. With its warmth, affection and gee-whiz humor, Yotsuba&! stands out as something totally unique on comic shelves today. It’s easily one of the best books I’m reading, and well worth checking out.

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I’ll admit it: Marvel publishing a tie-in to ABC’s Castle feels like a masterstroke of Corporate Synergy to me, even if I’m not convinced that Brian Michael Bendis will be able to capture the tone or speed that we’ve been led to expect from a Richard Castle literary “joint” by the three seasons of the show so far (That said, I can see Kelly Sue DeConnick getting that just right, so maybe I should trust in the co-writing team as a whole). But it does make me wonder whether this is just the start of possible bleed between ABC shows and Marvel product.

Over the last few months, we’ve started seeing Disney product pop up in Marvel releases, whether it’s Tron-themed covers (or Tron comics, for that matter) or the Pixar books jumping from Boom! to Marvel so quickly that they’ve not had any new material to fill them with, so this latest instance of transmedia tie-in feels less like a special event in and of itself than the latest in a series of Mouse-inspired favors, and makes me wonder what’s next. Admittedly, I think it’ll be sometime before we see a press release promising Matt Fraction’s Desperate Housewives, but there are more than a few shows on the alphabet network that could have enough of a fanbase within the comic market to gamble an OGN or two. For example, the just-canceled V (The original version of which had its own DC-published comic back in the ’80s) or last year’s uncompleted FlashForward… or even Lost, if someone at the House of Ideas could come up with a way to follow that up without ruining the show’s legacy (Maybe a DHARMA Initiative-centric series? Calling Jonathan Hickman…)? We’ve not really seen Marvel buy into the “continuation of canceled television series” thing yet, but maybe it was merely because no-one at ABC had realized they had a comic book publisher sibling before now…

While we eagerly jump at every tidbit of information that pops up about Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, one fan has taken it upon himself to shine Batman in an entirely new light in this homemade trailer.

Using clips from Nolan’s Batman films, Inception, The Prestige, Equilibrium, Shutter Island, The Machinist and Reign of Fire, YouTube user themanbatman has created a story that I think Nolan himself would be interested in developing.

The basis is that “Batman” is actually a very sick man suffering from schizophrenia who was using the idea of being a superhero to cope with his disease. As a treament, his doctor sends men into his sub-conscience to battle his inner demons. “I tried to craft a story where we see what happens when someone takes their dream of being Batman a little bit too far,” wrote themanbatman.

The same user also created a teaser trailer which is almost as long and explains the story even further. What do you think? I thought it was an interesting angle to the usual Batman stories. I also appreciated the nod to Michael Keaton’s era.

While Andy Kubert is illustrating DC’s well-publicized five-issue Flashpoint series, brother Adam is getting in on the summer comic fun with a variant cover for Uncanny X-Force #12, part of “The Dark Angel Saga.” The Rick Remender-written storyline takes the X-Force crew to the “Age of Apocalypse” timeline; familiar territory for Adam, who illustrated the Weapon X series during the original incarnation of AoA, back in 1995.

What are you still reading this for? The full cover (and Marvel’s accompany press release) are after the jump. Curious about “The Dark Angel Saga”? Check out our interview with Rick Remender.

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Something interesting about this month’s Batman and Robin solicitation: The absence, again, of Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason. Originally announced as the ongoing team to replace Grant Morrison with #17, Tomasi and Gleason’s opening arc got bumped to #20 to allow them both more time to work on Brightest Day. But then, after their initial three issues were done, they were replaced on the title by Judd Winick, Greg Tocchini and Guillem March for an arc, and now, it seems by David Hine and Tocchini. Has Batman and Robin become the new Batman Confidential/Legends of The Dark Knight revolving creative team series without an announcement, or has something happened to Tomasi and Gleason that we should be worried about?

I can never see Herc’s thumbs-up face too many times: This Michael Agger piece for Slate doesn’t really definitively explain the origins of the meme “Cool Story, Bro!”, or find out who attached it to a panel from Incredible Hercules (It makes me think of Chris Sims, but I guess that’s just an image that makes me think of Chris Sims in general), but it worth noting simply because that’s a lot of Incredible Hercules to see on the generally Herc-free Slate.

Could Ben Grimm have really been Blackbeard?: Sean Kleefeld examines the evidence. Maybe they shoulda cast Michael Chiklis in the new Pirates of the Caribbean instead of Ian McShane…

Gene Ha doesn’t mess around when he does con sketches: Check out his Shade. (Via Speed Force)

I’m not going to miss reading articles and blog posts about Smallville: Despite my curiosity about seeing favorite characters in live-action on a TV budget and all the young, attractive folks cast, I never got into Smallville, and am pretty sick of hearing about it’s final season/episode at this point. I do like articles like this one, however, which have pictures of the subject I’m most interested in—the designs and costumes. Like Alan’s recent column, it’s a nice reminder of how widely varied, but generally awful, the designs were (I think Zatanna, Black Canary, Aquaman, Green Arrow and Booster Gold were among the best, while Martian Manhunter and—hoo boy—Hawkman and Dr. Fate among the worst).

The most horrifying thing I’ve seen all week: Archie’s face on the Betty and Veronica cover Bully includes in this round-up of Oz-inspired comics covers, in recognition of L. Frank Baum’s just-passed birthday. He’s dressed as the Scarecrow, but it looks like someone made a scarecrow out of Archie’s face and…brr!

As a Cassandra Cain fan, I approve: Despite DC and the Bat-office seemingly having no idea what to do with the second Batgirl for the last five or six years—but trying something radically different and contradictory every couple of months anyway—it looks like Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham gave her a decent status quo, a cool codename, and a pretty neat new costume.

“Homogay…?”: This weird-ass article from Christwire.org is so over-the-top and the selections limited to out-of-context panels that the comics blogosphere has been making fun of of for years—where’s the one about the Joker’s boners, or Robin being the last person Batman touched?—that I think this is supposed to be a parody of conservative Christian alarmism, but, if so, it’s not really funny enough to waste too much time figuring out. It is the first time I’ve heard anyone use the term “homogay” before though. Is that common? (Via Tom Spurgon, whose link reads “it’s adorable when people think kids read comics”).

He’s right, I do like the fat guy, the horse and the frog!: Ty Templeton explains Thor.

The ability to build anything out of Legos instantly would be a pretty great superpower: This dude made me think of that.

Ryan Reynolds is easily started: Apparently.

If the free market chose the Justice League: I always read The Beat‘s sales analysis with interest, and for a while I would read Marc-Oliver Frisch’s DC month-to-month sales to see who the company’s seven most popular heroes were at a given time, with the arbitrary criteria of popularity simply being which characters headlining their own solo books sold the most copies in a given month. And then imagining them as a Justice League. I quit doing it after awhile, because it was almost always Superman, Supergirl and a bunch of Bat-people. This month is kind of interesting though, as there’s only three Bat-people, and the others are all traditional Justice Leaguers: Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Batman Bruce Wayne, Batman Dick Grayson, Superman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman and Red Robin. If too many chefs spoil the soup, do too many Batmen spoil a League? On a less nerdy note is the fact that “a consistent, critically acclaimed creative team” on a Batman book that comes out like clockwork seems to be helping Detective Comics gain rather than lose sales, and several other titles seem to be increasing for no obvious reason, which Frisch suggests reflects the market reacting to the quality of the work itself instead of the usual gimicks.